News

BUENA PARK, CA – When the time came to retire an increasingly unreliable analog console at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Altamonte Springs, Fla., the introduction of the Yamaha LS9 digital audio console was perfectly timed to be a serious alternative. With five diverse choirs and no full-time sound engineers on staff, the different needs of the traditional and contemporary choirs and the ever-increasing expectation of great audio spurred the decision makers to carefully consider just how much the Yamaha LS9 would be suited to the role of primary mixer at the church.

ASPEN, CO – The Wheeler Opera House, a world-class theatre located at the epicenter of downtown Aspen, recently installed a new digital Soundcraft Vi6 console at front-of-house. Built in the 1880s, the Wheeler is a Victorian proscenium-style theatre restored most recently by the City of Aspen in the early ’80s. Improved once more with its new Soundcraft console, the Wheeler offers a unique show-going experience as an intimate 500-seat house with acclaimed natural acoustics and picturesque setting at the base of Aspen Mountain.  

LAS VEGAS – Having established itself as the loudspeaker brand of choice for high-end entertainment venues with the Alpha Concept system, Dynacord’s star continues to rise in the entertainment capital of the world thanks to an installation at the Venetian’s new TAO Beach club, designed and installed by Bob Athey and Frank Heinrich of FBP Group.

AKG Acoustics has announced the debut of the newest version of its HiQnet System Architect software running AKG’s HUB 4000 Q Network Concentrator, enabling new possibilities for audio system networking and control. This software upgrade allows the AKG IVM 4 and the HUB 4000Q network concentrator to create the world’s first computer-controlled in-ear monitoring system.

ANAHEIM, CA – From Toronto’s Air Canada Centre to the Honda Center in Anaheim, Dane Cook’s 25-city transcontinental “Rough Around the Edges” tour blazed new trails for comedy acts.  It was a one-man stand-up show, yet the tour packed arenas that normally host NBA franchises and rock music supergroups.  Audio production for this sold-out tour was no laughing matter. Every syllable of the rapid-fire comic banter had to be fully articulated at every seat, a serious challenge in massive arenas jammed with more than 20,000 fans.

MORRISVILLE, NC – Faced with a traditional problem that many churches encounter with their audio systems, Cooper Cannady and the installers from Raleigh Music Brokerage came up with a simple but unique solution.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Originally a chapel known as Grace Church built during the gold rush year of 1849, Grace Cathedral has survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and several incarnations to become the third largest Episcopal cathedral in the nation. Well-known religious figures such as the Rev. Martin Luther King, Billy Graham and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have all spoken there.

ANAHEIM, CA — In a high-profile tour that demonstrates the versatility and unmatched performance of JBL Professional VERTEC line arrays, audio rental company Audio Analysts is currently providing the live sound system for the Blue Man Group’s “How To Be A Megastar Tour 2.1.” The world tour is expected to continue through May 2008.

DESTIN, FL – Blessed with a 1,400-seat worship center, Village Baptist Church in Destin, Fla., schedules an ambitious calendar of dramatic productions, multi-media activities and services that span traditional to contemporary. Unfortunately, their wireless microphone collection, which didn't work well even when it was new, reached the end of its useful life and began distracting the focus of their services. Instead of praise for God and lessons from the Bible, annoying crosstalk between microphone channels and, worse, periodic interference from nearby Eglin Air Force Base captured the attention of church members despite their best attempts to ignore it.

ANNAPOLIS JUNCTION, MD – FiberPlex Inc. has announced that the company’s LightViperTM audio transport system was recently acquired by Precept Ministries of Chattanooga, Tenn. The international Bible study aids organization installed the advanced fiber optic audio system from their main auditorium, which is used as a production studio for their TV and radio production control rooms and various audio/video production suites located in a separate building on the 32-acre pastoral campus.